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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of significant inundation following Tempest Claudia delivered torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

Claudia's Formation and Trajectory

This meteorological event originated from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand ushered in early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern US in early November.

This storm journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, caught in the trough of an increasingly amplified air current.

Impact on Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its west coast in just a single day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday brought flooding to areas in Portugal where an elderly couple perished in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River entered their home as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday last week, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and wounding 28 individuals.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

Claudia had more extensive impacts across western Europe. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By the following Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across the northern regions of Europe, generating a band of rain extending from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, resulting in significant waterlogging in the principality of Wales.

As this weather phenomenon continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, delivering to Europe its first taste of winter.

Related Incidents in California

The Golden State underwent a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, delivering torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked rapid flooding and landslides in zones scarred by wildfires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain poured down in southern California on the week's end, with a further 50mm broadly over the state on Saturday last.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain accumulated over coastal areas of southern California in aggregate, reaching a full 200 millimetres in spots on high ground.

This meteorological feature is a plume of warm, moist air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region endured the most severe the rapid inundations and landslides, prompting evacuations.

Across California, a elderly male passed away after his automobile was swept off a flooded bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were dragged into the sea by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.